MillenniumPark

Discover nature, architecture, landscape design, art, and entertainment just a short walk from our Chicago hotel at Millennium Park. This award winning park is home to an unprecedented combination of architecture, sculpture, and landscape design, including the Cloud Gate, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and the Crown Fountain.

Cloud Gate

The Cloud Gate was designed by British artist Anish Kapoor and was his first public outdoor work installed in the US. It is a 110-ton elliptical structure forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates. These plates reflect the stunning and famous skyline of Chicago as well as the clouds above. The 12’ high arch allows you to walk under the structure and even touch its mirror-like surface and see your image reflected back in a variety of perspectives.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion stands 120’ high and accommodates 4,000 people in fixed seats and 7,000 more on the Great Lawn. Designed by Frank Gehry, winner of the National Medal of Art, the Pavilion features a stunning headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage opening and connect to an overhead trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes. Home to the Grant Park Music Festival and many other concerts and events, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion has a state-of-the-art sound system that mimics the acoustics of an indoor concert hall by distributing enhanced sound equally across the fixed seats and the lawn. This system was the first of its kind and offers an unmatched music experience.

Crown Fountain

You haven’t seen a fountain like this one before. Crown Fountain consists of two 50’ glass block towers that sit at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. These towers use LED screens to display images of the diverse people of Chicago and water flows through an outlet in the screen, making it look like it’s sprouting from their mouths. This is a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains. The fountain’s water feature operates between mid-spring and mid-fall though the images shuffle through year-round.

There’s certainly more to see and do when visiting Millennium Park. Just take a walk from our hotel and explore everything this unique and beautiful park has to offer, such as:

BP Bridge

McDonald’s Cycle Center

Lurie Garden

Harris Theater

Exelon Pavilions

Wrigley Square & Millennium Monument (Peristyle)

Chase Promenade

Boeing Galleries

Nichols Bridgeway

Park History

Where Millennium Park now stands was once a wasteland full of unsightly railroad tracks and parking lots. In 1997, Mayor Richard M. Daley had a vision to transform this unattractive area into a new public space for the residents of Chicago. It was originally designed as a 16-acre park though it now fills 24.5 acres of space, thanks to the commitment of the private sector and the involvement of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. It was an ambitious undertaking that has certainly paid off through the years, as it is a unique and beautiful place visited by millions.